Exploring former Anglican churches in the City of Toronto

About

I am a parish priest with the Anglican Diocese of Toronto, serving the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Toronto (www.stmarymagdalene.ca)

I studied Canadian history and politics. My MA is in Canadian history; my MA thesis was on federal-provincial relations during the reconstruction period following World War II. Before ordination, I worked for the Government of Ontario for almost ten years, mostly with the Ministry of Intergovernmental Affairs doing policy development and advice.

I’m also a musician and earned my Associateship of the Royal Canadian College of Organists (ARCCO) in 1993.

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Now this looks interesting (found it via your facebook post). Surely you have a copy of *By Grace Co-Workers*, the sesqui history of the diocese [eek, 1989 – 23yrs ago]. At the back of that, Appendix 3 lists congregations in the diocese, sorted by deanery, with beginning date, and dates of the various buildings, and (if applicable) close date. If you know this, hooray; but I figured better-told-twice-than-not-at-all. Good luck with a sabbath leave project!

Thanks, Chris! Appreciate your interest. Just today I located my copy on my bookshelf and just tonight found the appendix you mention. As well, Mary-Anne Nicholls, the Diocesan archivist, has also kindly provided me with a list of former parishes in the diocese, which I’m now working through. Eventually I’ll work my way north toward Redeemer and see what was going on there in this period. First, I think I’ll head west.

Also, when you get around to the Garrison Church, there is at least some contemporary press coverage of the closure (and the events leading up to it) in the Globe. It should be at least quasi-searchable though the Toronto Library’s Pages of the Past site.

Fascinating post on St. Nicholas, Fisherman’s Island. One I was part of which no longer exists as a building but only in amalgamation is St. Simon’s Highland Creek. It was built in the 50’s by volunteer labour out of a lot of donated materials. I was there in the late 60’s as a teenager when we moved to Scarborough. And it was home church during university. It merged with St. Edward’s, Pickering to form St. Dunstan of Canterbury. The church was sold to be used as a Sikh temple or some other eastern religion (not sure because I wasn’t in Toronto then) and apparently burned down. I’m sure the more literalist types might see that as a sign of God’s displeasure.